Ted Cruz to join anti-Obamacare town hall

Cruz will join Heritage Action for a series of town halls pushing efforts to defund Obamacare. | AP Photo

By PRIYA ANAND | 8/1/13 11:27 AM EDT
Updated: 8/1/13 5:51 PM EDT

Sen. Ted Cruz will join Heritage Action for a town hall event in Dallas as part of the group’s series pushing efforts to defund the Affordable Care Act, continuing his crusade to stifle the law, the group announced.

Cruz will speak at the Dallas event hosted by the Heritage Foundation’s lobbying arm, joining former Sen. Jim DeMint and his father, Rafael Cruz.

Obamacare vs. shutdown

The town hall tour featuring Rafael Cruz and DeMint begins Aug. 19 in Fayetteville, Ark., and will stop in nine cities, including Tampa, Fla. and Birmingham, Ala.

The freshman senator has been making the media rounds and pushing his GOP colleagues to defund Obamacare as part of upcoming fiscal deals to continue government spending after Sept. 30, with allies including Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) distributed a Congressional Research Service report Tuesday that found “if government were shut down, funding for Obamacare would still continue.” And House Republican leaders have expressed doubt about shutting down the government over Obamacare but are pushing other efforts to limit its scope.

CORRECTION: Sen. Ted Cruz is only scheduled to attend the event in Dallas.